STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK

PHOTO BY KIRSTEN SHULTZ

How far have we come in 50 years?

That’s the question asked by “Clybourne Park,” which opens on Wednesday, Feb. 21, at the Liberty Theatre.

The play is Bruce Norris’s response to Lorraine Hansberry’s 1959 play “A Raisin in the Sun,” in which representatives of an all-white Chicago suburb try to keep an African-American family from moving in.

It shines the spotlight on racial tensions and gentrification in Chicago, which remains one of America’s most racially segregated cities, thanks to decades of racial discriminatory housing policies—some of which still persist today.

And it does so with razor-sharp humor.

“By using laughter, sometimes you can shine a light on something that people would be resistant to examining honestly, otherwise,” said Director Denise Simone.

“The play is about people that you know handling situations in ways perhaps too familiar,” added R.L. Rowsey. “Questions of how we address each other are put under the microscope. And, somehow, because of brilliant writing, it also manages to be witty and downright funny.”

The play opens in 1959 where the Younger family has found a crack in the unwritten code barring them from staking a toehold in Clybourne Park. Specifically, the homeowners’ son has died and they want out, even if it makes their neighbors unhappy.

It’s the local clergyman who begs the sellers to back out of the deal to keep property values from falling.

Fast forward 50 years to the second half where the tables have turned. A young white couple wants to move into the neighborhood—to raze and rebuild the now-dilapidated house. And they’re astonished to discover that the now mostly black neighborhood is not too keen on them doing so.

“The play is so interesting that if you to try to describe it in a sentence or two you might as well be describing Einstein,” said actor Scott Creighton.

The humor of the situation is humans, he added:

“It’s about people coming from their different points of view. It’s the fun of watching people try to communicate politely with one another. They’re trying so hard to express themselves and they want to understand the other points of views, and that’s delightful.”

Lorraine Hansberry’s play, loosely based on her own experience, was considered a groundbreaking masterpiece when it opened, said Simone. Not only was she the first-African American playwright to be produced on Broadway but her play was the biggest hit of its time.

People then were nervous how it would be received. But it attracted a mostly white audience. And, for many, it was the first time they had made the connection that both black and white people share the same hopes concerns.

“We both, for instance, want a good education for our children,” said Simone.

Interestingly, the crux of the problem is reached quickly in the first act, noted actor David Janeski. It takes a lot longer in the second half—all these decades later in the age of political correctness—to see what they’re getting at.

“The first act is more about community. The second, more about a me-me-me attitude, with people caring not for the history of the area but, rather, themselves,” he added, noting that the play might strike a note with some about this valley’s long-running conversations over affordable housing and mansions.

“It provokes us to think, be uncomfortable, blow through preconceived notions,” added Claudia McCain.

The play is smart, topical and funny, said Denise Simone

It’s the perfect Company of Fools’ play, added R.L. Rowsey.

 “The words are rich. They are specific. Funny and human and honest. And sometimes you laugh at something only to wish that you hadn’t. Like life,” he said. “I think word of mouth on this play will spread rapidly. I wonder what the audience will say. How they will describe it. Will they find words or will they simply say that golden phrase, ‘You just have to go see this play’ !?”

The play features five Wood River Valley actors, all of whom have worked with Company of Fools in the past. Joining them is a recent Boise State University theater graduate and two actors who have been involved with theater in New York.

Local actors are Chris Carwithen, Scott Creighton, David Janeski, Claudia McCain and Aly Wepplo.

Joining them are Chris Henderson, who appeared in the ensemble of Boise State’s “Urinetown: The Musical,” and Maya Sharpe, a musician actor and filmmaker who divides her time between New York and Los Angeles. Also, Troy Valjean Rucker, who has performed in plays and musicals off-Broadway and on European and national tours, as well as opera and concerts in Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center and Kennedy Center.

Joe Lavigne designed the set; Amanda Clegg Lyon, the lighting, and Elizabeth Weiss Hopper, costume design. K.O. Ogilvie is stage manager.

Simone and the late John Glenn eyed the play while both were at the helm of Company of Fools.

“Having Dense as the director is so perfect in this time of transition for Company of Fools,” said Rowsey. “She honors the work and the artists and the theater. Company of Fools matters so deeply to her. And it’s delightful to watch her work. She is as passionate and complete and vulnerable as a director as she is as an actress. She totally puts herself on the line.”

IF YOU GO:

WHAT: “Clybourne Park”

WHEN: 7 p.m. Wednesdays and Thursdays, Feb. 21-22; Feb. 28-March 1; March 7-8. 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Feb. 23-24, March 2-3, and March 9-10. 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25.

WHERE: Liberty Theatre in Hailey

TICKETS: $35 for members of the Sun Valley Center for the Arts, $40 for nonmembers, $35 for seniors 62 and over, $15 for students and $35 for each member of a group of eight or more. Tickets are available at www.sunvalleycenter.org, by phone at 208-578-9122 or at the Liberty Theatre box office.

SPECIAL DEALS: “Pay What You Feel Night on Wednesday, Feb. 21. $22 for “Second Night 22” adult tickets on Thursday, Feb. 22. $15 seats for educators on Friday, Feb. 23. Pre-show Happy Half-Hour discounted wine, beer and bubbly on Saturday, March 3, with deals at partner restaurants and a chance to win prizes. 10 front-row seats for $10 each for each show except for Pay What You Feel Night.

POST-SHOW CHAT BACK AND BACKSTAGE TOUR—Following the 3 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 25, show.

SPONSORS: Carol and Len Harlig, Marcia and Don Liebich, the Richard Smooke family and Big Wood Landscape.